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There's new advice for older men who want to preserve their sexual function: have sex, and have it often, researchers say.

The study, published in the American Journal of Medicine, followed nearly 1000 older Finnish men for five years, and reports that those who were regularly having sex at the start of the study were at lower risk of developing erectile dysfunction (ED) by the study's end.

In fact, the more often the men had sex, the lower their ED risk.

The implication, say the researchers, is that men should be encouraged to stay sexually active into their golden years.

Dr Juha Koskimaki and colleagues at the University of Tampere in Finland studied 989 men who were between the ages of 55 and 75 at the outset.

Overall, those who said they had sex less than once per week were twice as likely to develop ED over the next five years compared to men who had sex at least once a week.

Almost 8% of men who had reported having sexual intercourse less than once per week had ED, compared to 3.2% of men who had intercourse once per week. The incidence of ED among men who reported having sexual intercourse three or more times per week was 1.6%.

Stay sexually active

ED occurs when there are problems with blood flow to the penis. Regular sexual activity, Koskimaki's team writes, may help maintain healthy blood vessel function in the erectile tissue.

A number of factors contribute to ED development, many of which could also affect a man's sexually activity - such as age, diabetes and heart disease. However, after taking account of those factors, sexual activity itself remained linked to ED risk, Koskimaki's team found.

"Regular intercourse has an important role in preserving erectile function among elderly men," says Koskimaki. "Continued sexual activity decreases the incidence of erectile dysfunction in direct proportion to coital frequency."

It may be a matter of "use it or lose it," according to the researchers. Just as exercise boosts physical fitness, they note, regular sexual activity may help a man preserve his erectile function.

Needs exercise

Dr Michael Lowy, a Sydney-based physician specialising in sexual medicine and counselling, says the findings are consistent with current thinking regarding ED.

"The erectile tissues need a lot more exercise (when you're older) to maintain their integrity, and part of that exercise is sexual intercourse, masturbation or even night erections," Lowy says.

He says that while a lack of sexual activity is probably the main factor contributing towards ED, other health problem such as diabetes may exacerbate the problem.

Lowy adds that increasing the rate of sexual activity is not a guaranteed way of curing ED.

"It's possible that his erections may improve, but then it's possible he may need medication - everyone is different," he says.